Old/New Testament
Psalm 63[a]
Ardent Longing for God
1 A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.(A)
I
2 O God, you are my God—
it is you I seek!
For you my body yearns;
for you my soul thirsts,
In a land parched, lifeless,
and without water.(B)
3 I look to you in the sanctuary
to see your power and glory.
4 For your love is better than life;[b]
my lips shall ever praise you!
II
5 I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands, calling on your name.
6 My soul shall be sated as with choice food,
with joyous lips my mouth shall praise you!
7 I think of you upon my bed,
I remember you through the watches of the night
8 You indeed are my savior,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.(C)
9 My soul clings fast to you;
your right hand upholds me.
III
10 But those who seek my life will come to ruin;
they shall go down to the depths of the netherworld!
11 Those who would hand over my life to the sword shall
become the prey of jackals!
12 But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by the Lord[c] shall exult,
but the mouths of liars will be shut!(D)
Psalm 64[d]
Treacherous Conspirators Punished by God
1 For the leader. A psalm of David.
I
2 O God, hear my anguished voice;
from a dreadful foe protect my life.
3 Hide me from the malicious crowd,
the mob of evildoers.
4 They sharpen their tongues like swords,
bend their bows of poison words.(E)
5 They shoot at the innocent from ambush,
they shoot him in a moment and do not fear.
6 They resolve on their wicked plan;
they conspire to set snares;
they say: “Who will see us?”
7 They devise wicked schemes,
conceal the schemes they devise;
the designs of their hearts are hidden.(F)
II
8 God shoots an arrow at them;
in a moment they are struck down.(G)
9 They are brought down by their own tongues;
all who see them flee.(H)
10 Every person fears and proclaims God’s actions,
they ponder his deeds.
11 The righteous rejoices and takes refuge in the Lord;
all the upright give praise.(I)
Psalm 65[e]
Thanksgiving for God’s Blessings
1 For the leader. A psalm of David. A song.
I
2 To you we owe our hymn of praise,
O God on Zion;
To you our vows[f] must be fulfilled,
3 [g]you who hear our prayers.
To you all flesh must come(J)
4 with its burden of wicked deeds.
We are overcome by our sins;
only you can pardon them.(K)
5 Blessed the one whom you will choose and bring
to dwell in your courts.
May we be filled with the good things of your house,
your holy temple!
II
6 You answer us with awesome deeds[h] of justice,
O God our savior,
The hope of all the ends of the earth
and of those far off across the sea.(L)
7 You are robed in power,
you set up the mountains by your might.
8 You still the roaring of the seas,(M)
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.(N)
9 Distant peoples stand in awe of your marvels;
the places of morning and evening you make resound with joy.
10 [i]You visit the earth and water it,
make it abundantly fertile.(O)
God’s stream[j] is filled with water;
you supply their grain.
Thus do you prepare it:
11 you drench its plowed furrows,
and level its ridges.
With showers you keep it soft,
blessing its young sprouts.
12 You adorn the year with your bounty;
your paths[k] drip with fruitful rain.
13 The meadows of the wilderness also drip;
the hills are robed with joy.
14 The pastures are clothed with flocks,
the valleys blanketed with grain;
they cheer and sing for joy.(P)
IV. Justification and the Christian Life
Chapter 6
Freedom from Sin; Life in God. 1 [a]What then shall we say? Shall we persist in sin that grace may abound? Of course not!(A) 2 How can we who died to sin yet live in it?(B) 3 Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?(C) 4 We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.(D)
5 For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.(E) 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.(F) 7 For a dead person has been absolved from sin. 8 If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.(G) 9 We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him.(H) 10 As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God.(I) 11 Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as [being] dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.(J)
12 [b]Therefore, sin must not reign over your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires.(K) 13 And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin as weapons for wickedness, but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life and the parts of your bodies to God as weapons for righteousness.(L) 14 For sin is not to have any power over you, since you are not under the law but under grace.(M)
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Of course not!(N) 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves,(O) you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?(P) 17 But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted.[c] 18 Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your nature. For just as you presented the parts of your bodies as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness for lawlessness, so now present them as slaves to righteousness for sanctification. 20 (Q)For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness.[d] 21 But what profit did you get then from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.(R) 22 But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit that you have leads to sanctification,[e] and its end is eternal life.(S) 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.(T)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.